Why are taxpayers asked to subsidize postsecondary education? After all, college graduates continue to earn much more on average than those who do not gain a postsecondary degree. One answer is that higher education provides public benefits in addition to high private returns on postsecondary investments.

Over 69 percent of employees are still employed by a company three years after they start if they receive great onboarding. While training for job-specific skills should be part of an onboarding program, it is important that the program helps create connections between new employees and mentors, communicates the company's mission and core values and allows managers to make wise use of their time when bringing a new employee onboard.

By 2050, 66 per cent of the world’s population will live in metro areas. That rapid urbanization has made cities a focus of active experimentation and intellectual energy. In this special report, we look at the role urban universities play – for better and worse – in their communities, new insights into the history and future of cities, and the barriers that get in the way of good research.

On Thursday, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a pilot program to look into a "pre-certification" for medical software start-ups.

And even the FDA's harshest critics are excited about it.

"I guess I've grown cynical in my old age, as I've watched administrations come and go," said Bradley Merrill Thompson, an FDA expert and lawyer with the firm Epstein, Becker & Green, in an email to CNBC. "(But) I think the idea of a pilot program is brilliant."

Image: Anjali Sundaram | CNBC Dr. Scott Gottlieb, FDA Commissioner. 

Do you have fire in your belly? Are you an action-oriented person? And do you have skills that you could bring to the table? America loves its workplace jargon, but corporate cliches differ from state to state. Companies in Washington state, for example, want their workers to go through the roof, while employers in West Virginia prefer people off the floor. After reviewing the language patterns of more than 250 million job posts and hiring outcomes, the text analysis startup Textio identified the most distinctive jargon phrases for each U.S. state.

Image: http://fortune.com 

When workouts leave you drenched, or when it's so hot outside that your clothes cling to your body like Saran wrap, start drinking. If you don't rehydrate, your body and brain can suffer; mild dehydration can tank your mood, concentration and energy levels. But not all fluids are created equal—and water isn't always the best beverage for the job. “When we drink, fluids are not available to the body immediately but take some time to be absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream,” says Bridget Benelam, a public health researcher with the British Nutrition Foundation. How fast this happens is determined, in part, by what's in the fluid.

A scientist at Queen’s University in Belfast has developed a way to transform aluminium foil into a material used in biofuel production.

Ahmed Osman, from the university’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, led the research – finding a crystallisation method to convert the foil, which often can’t be recycled due to contamination issues, into a potential catalyst for biofuel production. Ahmed extracted ‘100% pure single crystals of aluminium salts’ from the foil, this is the base material for making the alumina catalyst used to develop biofuels.

Image: Ahmed Osman. Credit: Queen's University Belfast

Today I had the privilege of joining with the CEOs of Merck and Corning at the White House to announce a new type of glass packaging technology for pharmaceuticals that will provide stronger, more reliable vials and cartridges for the delivery of injectable drugs.

This revolutionary advance is the result of collaborations amongst three companies that represent over a century of innovation in drug discovery and manufacturing processes. Our dedication and long-term commitment to innovation has and continues to yield significant benefits for patients, industry and the U.S. economy in the form of new jobs, new capital investment and the development and delivery of high-quality, safe and effective products.

Image: https://www.forbes.com - Pfizer

The SBIR/STTR Matching Fund Grants Program is developed and funded by LaunchTN (via the State of Tennessee) to advance commercialization efforts via a matching of funding awarded to Tennessee based companies through successful SBIR and STTR applications.

SBIR/STTR Matching Fund Grant requests should contribute to the overall economic development of the state and aid in LaunchTN’s mission to support entrepreneurship and innovation in the state. The program seeks to offer grant funding via the methodology outlined below to entrepreneurs, startups and small business commercializing technology throughout the state.

The importance of clusters to regional competitiveness and economic performance is well established. Research has shown that the co-location of businesses in clusters increases the productivity of companies and job creation, drives innovation, stimulates the formation of new businesses, and supports the survival and growth of small businesses.

Image: http://www.thenextsiliconvalley.com 

It’s no secret that cable companies are struggling as Americans cut the cord and make the jump from TV subscriptions to online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. As this chart from Statista shows, Americans between 18 and 24 years old are among the biggest cord cutters. The group has cut their TV usage by 12 hours per week since 2011 according to data from Nielsen's quarterly total audience report. 

Image: http://www.businessinsider.com 

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman spoke this past May at the Tech Alliance luncheon in Seattle, and something he said got me thinking about Silicon Valley – and all innovation hubs — in a different way.

While interviewed on stage by angel investor Sarah Imbach, he called Silicon Valley “myopic” and urged people to pay attention to what’s going on in Seattle, the other tech hub where he now spends time as a startup investor and Microsoft board member.

A solar eclipse darkens some region of Earth roughly every six months. Excitement is high for the August 21 total eclipse, which will cast a band of complete blackness across the U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina. If you live too far away to see it, don’t despair—another eclipse may be coming your way soon (see map). It may be one of several varieties, in which the moon blocks part or all of the sun (see diagrams). Whatever the flavor, the event provides a dramatic show worth experiencing. —Mark Fischetti

Image: https://www.scientificamerican.com 

CLEVELAND, July 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The KeyBank Foundation today announced it has awarded JumpStart Inc. a four-year, $24 million grant to fuel the "KeyBank Business Boost & Build Program, powered by JumpStart" in communities across Ohio and upstate New York. The initiative is designed to stimulate economic growth and workforce development by fostering small business success.

The global population will increase to almost ten billion by 2050 while greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture continue to rise. We need to intensify food production while shrinking agriculture’s impact on the environment. Canadian biotechnology is helping farmers produce more food while simultaneously reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture.

Biotechnology is changing the way we grow and consume food. It has brought us drought- and disease-resistant crops, plants that can be grown on marginal land and fruits and vegetables with improved nutritional profiles and visual appeal.

Last April, Apple released its 58-page Environmental Responsibility Report, an ecological “progress report” for the 2016 fiscal year, which boasted of a number of sustainability and safety initiatives under the high-profile leadership of Lisa Jackson, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator. However, a subsequent report published by Vice’s technology vertical Motherboard found that Apple had instructed third-party recyclers to shred its old products, rendering them ineligible for reuse or repurposing, even when stored data could be safeguarded without destruction of the hardware.

Cybersecurity is a critical but often misunderstood aspect of companies’ technology infrastructures. Here’s how business and technology leaders can ensure that important corporate assets remain safe.

If you’re based in New Jersey, you’re most likely to be approved for a small business loan. That’s according to a new report by Biz2Credit, which has identified New Jersey as the top state for small business loan approval rates. The report found nearly one-quarter (23.4 percent) of funding requests made by New Jersey-based businesses were approved by lenders.

Image: https://smallbiztrends.com

In case you hadn’t noticed, the world of business is becoming more and more a “gig economy.” This simply means that the number of people with a long-term single-employer agreement is going down, and the number of short-term contractors and freelancers is going up. It’s good for professionals, who get more control, and good for companies, who need more flexible staffing.

The latest sexy, cool description that has entered the lexicon of start-up and veteran companies is “disruptors.” It makes listeners perk up and readers take note. Astute commentators love dropping the word.

No longer used only to describe an obnoxious toddler in his ‘terrible threes,’ individuals and companies are waxing gleeful in describing themselves as disruptors. Traditionally, “disruptive” has negative connotations. Synonyms include troublesome, rowdy, wild and turbulent. Think Donald Trump’s behavior at any World Summit.

Image: A look inside the new El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (photo credit:EL AL)